HOW BUD LIGHT LOST TOP USA SALES SPOT BECAUSE OF TRANSGENDER CONTROVERSY!
By Wendy Burke
Bud Light lost its top spot in the U.S. beer market last month, as the brand’s sales sagged following a conservative uproar over its partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Constellation Brands’ Modelo led the market with 8.4% of beer sales from retail stores in the four weeks that ended June 3, according to NielsenIQ data from consulting firm Bump Williams. Bud Light trailed with a 7.3% share.
Bud Light sales fell 24.6% in the period year over year, while Modelo sales jumped 10.2%, the data shows.
Still, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand Bud Light leads U.S. beer sales so far this year, according to Bump Williams.
The hit to AB InBev’s business marks one of the few times in recent years that online backlash has led to a notable and sustained slump for a major brand. The company’s shares have dropped nearly 15% since the start of April, when Mulvaney posted a video of a personalized Bud Light can, which sparked anti-LGBTQ+ outrage.
In response to the uproar, the company appeared to neither defend the promotion with Mulvaney — a hesitance that angered some supporters of trans rights — nor appease the conservatives who opposed the marketing.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement in April.
